HandymanWire - Brick Questions and Answers

Cutting bricks

I'm building a brick mailbox and have to arch the bricks around the top of the mailbox. To do this I need to cut the bricks in the shape of a "keystone". How can I do this? The cut needs to be made on the long sides of the brick, meaning that if you look at the end of the brick after cutting you should see the keystone effect. Need to cut around 12 bricks to make the entire arch. I'm using a std solid brick. Its called Old Tumbles.

I've asked all the brick supply house in the area and they all said that they couldn't do this.

Not knowing the radius you are using I can't give you a measurement to cut your brick to. They can be cut using a diamond blade either wet or dry. If you don't have access to a diamond saw I would look in the yellow pages for a masonry contractor in your area and see if they would cut them for you. The other thing to look at is that you can turn a fairly tight radius using the mortar joint as a key.

Bricks spalling

The bricks on the outside of our house are spalling, the face of the bricks crack and fall off. This happens more and more particularly after the winter season. Only the bricks from about 2-3 feet up from the ground are involved. It is obvious that bricks were replacd prior to our purchase of the house 5 yrs. ago. Our insurance tells us this is not covered.

The cause of the brick spaulding is more than likely water penetration and frost. The best fix is to cut out the affected brick and then seal the entire wall with a quality sealer. Sealing the brick will slow the damage to the wall even if replacing is not an option.

Cutting Brick Pavers

What is the easiest way to cut brick pavers without having to rent a masonary saw or purchasing a diamond blade for my circular saw. I only have about 20 bricks to cut and basically they only need to be cut in half.

HandymanWire - Chimney Questions and Answers

When building a cricket on a chimney, do the edges of the cricket go all the way to the edge of the chimney or are they set back from the edge to allow for flashing? If set back, how far?

The cricket may be built either way I run mine out to the edge of the chimney to ensure that when the flashing is added the water is run well away. You should remember to maintain your 1" clearance from combustible material for fire protection. The flashing will serve as the fire stop.

Masonry Chimney repairs

The chimney on my 30 year old house has crumbling mortar on the top 6 rows. It appears to be stable from this point down. What type of mortar can I use to repair this? Are there any hints I can get? Can I just run up with a trowel, straight edge and some mortar? Are the liner bricks likely to need remortaring?

What usually happens is the mortar will breakdown from where the chimney leaves the attic. This is caused by the temperature difference creating moisture and chemical breakdown from the burned fuel. I recommend taking the chimney down to the flashing and replacing it inside and out. You can use either a type S mortar (1 part portland 1/2 part lime 4 1/2 sand)or a type N ( 1 part portland 1 part lime 6 parts sand). You can buy this in bags by type and just add sand. Check the rest of the chimney for cracks inside and out but it will most likely be just the top and should be simple to replace.

Chimney chipping

My Chimney is being chipped away little by little in various spots, it seems as if the outside face of the red brick is just being shaved off by the elements of weather. How can I re-patch the faces of these bricks around the chimney, and with what? it almost looks as if birds are pecking at different bricks along the top and base of chimney.